ORIGINALLY AIRED: 2/28/2005
AngryAlien.com, LCD Window, Super Root Beer
Episode #5034
| Ridin’ the Zebra: How did the marketers in the primordial era of personal computers try to convince people they needed a PC? Find out at this gallery of early computer ads.
Science on the March: Why go through all the hassle of implanting silicon pouches into your chest when you can graft tissue made from human bone-marrow-derived stem cells inserted into mice? Hot! Would George Approve? The funniest street stencil we’ve seen in a long time involves R2D2 and an unnatural union with a dog. |
| Artist Jennifer Shiman was just puttering around with ideas for Flash cartoons when she struck internet gold: 30-second versions of classic movies. Starring bunnies. She enlisted her pal Douglas McInnes to do some of the voicework, and she soon posted a half-minute bunny edition of The Exorcist. Her site exceeded its bandwidth almost immediately as word of internet mouth spread about her hilarious ‘toon. This inspired her to make more titles, like Jaws and Alien, for instance. Now she creates these mini-movies for the Starz movie channel full-time, and is currently reworking Highlander.
We’ll have a web-exclusive interview with Jennifer tomorrow. Until then, visit AngryAlien.com for 30-Second Bunnies Theatre as well as other features like Amy’s Diary. |
| Northern California dweller Ryan Hoagland wasn’t satisfied with the view from his living room. So, when he had the opportunity to acquire some LCD monitors from work, a light bulb alighted above his head and a modding project began: What if you could have any view you wanted out of your windows? With some carpentry, soldering, and computer skills, he put together his virtual windows. And so can you with his step-by-step instructions at hoagy.org. Although it only projects pictures, Ryan promises that version 2.0 will be video views. |
| Searching high and low, Kevin R. finds the craaaziest deals on the web, just for you:
Dell 20.1” Monitor ($561.75) Sony 8x DVD+R ($19.94) Hitachi 160GB HD ($59.98) |
| Kevin P. sunk his thumbs into the latest edition in the Devil May Cry series for PlayStation 2. Here’s what he had to say:
“This game's a prequel, which means in between throwing the controller out of frustration and agitating your carpal tunnel, you're going to learn all about the feud between Dante and his brother Virgil. “The game is one of the most stylized I've ever played. Every cutscene and combo just looks 'cool.' But is it any fun?! I have to be honest; I'm struggling with this one. “This is the toughest First 50 I've had to do thus far because I'm so jaded by games with spawning enemies that can be killed by mashing. In fact, I'm halfway tempted to just tell everyone to hold out for god of war. But, if you own a PS2 you should try this game; and if you've been the slightest bit entertained by previous D.M.C. titles, go ahead and hand over $50 tomorrow.” Visit the official site for Devil May Cry 3. |
| In tech topics…
File Under "Golden Goose, Killing Of:" Several big record labels want to charge more for online music downloads. Moving On With Their Lives: Ex-LucasArts employees are making a new point-and-click adventure game based on the Bone comic book series. Just In Time: Democrat senators propose the Open Source Voting Bill to regulate electronic voting to ensure fairness. Those crazy liberals are out of control! R2D2 DUI: Kenny Baker is arrested for drunk driving. Fortunately, no Jawas were injured. |
| Here are Sarah’s new discoveries on the wild, wild internet: |
| Why would you want to make your own root beer? Um, well… it’s something to do. And you can buy a DIY kit by Canny Kits. And then you can throw in some Umph Tablets to jazz up the caffeine quotient. And… then… ah… heck, I’m out of ideas. |
| Today we enjoyed the sight of a swimmer flattening his face against concrete. Unfortunately, between the time we find these web videos and the time we air them, the links change or they’re no long available. Thus, all we can offer is the site where we originally saw them. In this case it’s www.Killsometime.com. |
| Chris from Baltimore asked Jennifer Shiman: how long does it take to create those 30-second bunny movies?
“From start to finish, it takes about three weeks of 14-hour days,” she said. Chris from Orlando wondered if Jennifer allows other sites to host her cartoons. “Generally, I like to keep the cartoons at AngyAlien .com,” she said. Tyler of Gordon, Ohio asked: Why bunnies? Of all the critters Jennifer experimented with—mice, gophers, beavers, etc.—bunnies “look particularly stoic.” She also noted that bunny ears attached to stuff looks funny. |
FEATURES
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Ten Minutes with Jennifer Shiman
The creator of 30-Second Bunnies Theatre talks about her fuzzy tales. |
